Rohrbach Library Home: PSY 379: Searching for archival materials and primary sources: Home

Searching for Primary Sources using the Web

Using the Web for finding primary sources. The free web is one of the richest sources of primary source material but it requires the user to carefully evaluate what they find.

Google - some tips

Type in your topic include the words “primary source”. Example: “sigmund freud” “primary sources”. Also try limiting your results to .edu, .org, OR .gov web sites.
Search on famous psychologist or movement and add archives: leon festinger archives
Do a google image search on a famous psychologist and add the term letters: bf skinner letters

Some Recommended Web Sites

Center for the History of Psychology The Drs. Nicholas and Dorothy Cummings Center for the History of Psychology (CCHP) is located at The University of Akron in Akron, Ohio. It is a unique institution that cares for, provides access to, and interprets the historical record of psychology and related human sciences.
Classics in the History of Psychology Links to foundational works in psychology.
Hathi Trust Digital Library HathiTrust is a large-scale collaborative repository of digital content from research libraries.
Internet Archive A digital library of internet sites, including the Open Library.
Library of Congress Digital Collections

Using the Rohrbach Library Catalog

When searching in the Library Catalog do an Boolean search and add the word “sources” to your search. Example:
sigmund freud and sources

Other keywords to try: sources, diaries, personal narratives, interviews, letters

Using WorldCat - the World's Library Catalog

Worldcat.org is like the Amazon.com of the library world. It includes the holdings of over 17,000 libraries all over the world. It is the best place to go to find hard to find books and archival materials.

Using Library Databases

Using Library Databases

Library databases include subscription content that is not freely available on the web.

Primary Source Databases
Access over 90 primary source databases available through the library.

Some Recommended Databases

Films on Demand This link opens in a new window Films on Demand includes over 30,000 streamed videos from Films for the Humanities & Sciences, ABC News, NBC News, PBS, BBC, National Geographic, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, Bill Moyers, Shopware, The Open University, A&E, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Fred Friendly Seminars, Cambridge Educational, and many more. Create a personal account to save to Playlists or Favorites. Links to individual videos or segments can be emailed or posted in D2L.
HarpWeek This link opens in a new window Electronic access to Harper's Weekly, the illustrated 19th Century Journal of Civilization. It is an important primary resource for examining 19th-century America on a cumulative week-to-week basis. Full-text Coverage from 1857-1912.
Life Magazine Archive Life Magazine Archive presents an extensive collection of the famed photojournalism magazine, spanning its very first issue in November, 1936 through December, 2000 in a comprehensive cover-to-cover format.
New York Times, Historical This link opens in a new window This database offers full-text and full-image articles for the New York Times dating back to the 19th century. The collection includes digital reproductions of every page from every issue--cover to cover--in downloadable PDF files. Coverage 1851 to current with 3-year rolling embargo.
Westlaw Campus Research Best place to go for court cases